Date of Award

5-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department/Program

Psychology

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Jennifer Bragger

Committee Member

Valerie Sessa

Committee Member

John Kulas

Abstract

The conceptualization of shared leadership is still in its early stages, and the research on the measurement of shared leadership differs greatly. This study aims to identify how a sample of college students from a public university understand the structure and process of outcomes based on relevant research regarding leadership identity development theories. Based on this understanding, this paper also examines how understanding leadership potentially impacts the amount of shared leadership a student reports within their team, taking into consideration the two primary approaches of shared leadership. Finally, the study investigates how reported shared leadership impacts team effectiveness, reported by project grades. Overall, the results show that college students significantly differ in how they view the structure of leadership on average, but this difference does not impact reported shared leadership or effectiveness. Within the DAC model, the amount of commitment a student reports as an outcome of leadership positively predicts the amount of shared leadership within the group. Based on these results, there is an evident influence between development and reported shared leadership, but further research is necessary to clarify findings.

File Format

PDF

Included in

Psychology Commons

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